A lot was riding on the word-of-mouth publicity from the first day first show of Roaring Star Sriimurali’s Bagheera, given that the initial bookings for the film were quite tepid. Bagheera was his first release in three years and was coming after two duds, Bharaate and Madhagaja, so, a better theatrical outing was the need of the hour. And if the response to the film is anything to go by, Sriimurali will have another massive hit under his belt.

Bagheera, the film written and directed by Dr Suri, based on a plot by KGF maker Prashanth Neel, released on October 31, and now also holds the distinction of being the first Kannada film to have been picked by Netflix for the streaming rights even before it hit theatres.

Netizens are all praise for Bagheera

The film had a lot of positive buzz around it after the trailer, even though similarities to Hollywood movies like Batman were called out. Now that the film is out, audiences who caught it on Day 1 can’t stop singing its praise. From Sriimurali’s screen presence, to Garuda Ram’s introduction, Ajaneesh Loknath’s music, Dr Suri’s deft execution and more, there’s much that’s working in the film’s favour, they reckon.

Comments range from, “Sriimurali’s magic unfolds”, to “career best performance”, “Well-mad vigilante film with predictable story”, “Bagheera first half was bonkers and worth all the money. Tailor-made movie for theatre experience”, “Benki BGM”, and more.

Bagheera has Sriimurali as a righteous police officer, Vedanth, intent on rooting out crime and corruption, whose wings are clipped by higher-ups in his department. Desperate to fight evil, protect and serve people and provide them with some form of justice, he takes to being a masked vigilante called Bagheera.

The film also stars Prakash Raj, Rangayana Raghu, Garuda Ram, Rukmini Vasanth, Achyuth Kumar, Prakash Thuminad, Raaghu Ramanakoppa, Pramod Shetty, among others. AJ Shetty serves as cinematographer, while Ajaneesh Loknath is the composer.

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